immovable object, unstoppable force
by The Heavens' Answer
Summary: For Faith, there's something about this faceless, nameless assassin that hits far too close to home. As their fight progresses, the lines between the present and their past starts breaking down. FaithxCeleste One-Shot.


When your fist hits just below the padding, you feel the flesh give way, sinking beneath your knuckles like wet paper and you feel the breath whoosh out from emptied lungs along with a gasp that sends tingles down your spine. You roll under a vicious swinging hook, your skin burns as you slide on the grated metal, and you can't help but think you know that sound - you can feel it in your bones because this is a dance your body remembers -

_- Cel's laughs and laughs and you're standing there like some fool, without words, without don't quite feel like laughing with her, your pride won't let you. But then, she stumbles a bit too close, and the wind is in her hair, her ponytail coming loose. Her lips are full and parted and she's just a little bit drunk on adrenaline - but to be fair, so are you - so you impulsively do the next best thing to hitting her - her eyes flicker, only for a second, when your hand grips her arm just above the crook of her elbow and pull her close, using her own momentum to swing her into your proximity - and there's this vacuum that just devours all the air between you and you're looking at her -_

- Your opponent swivels just as you turn and rise, you can see pale blue eyes staring back at you like the cold waters washing up against the side of the ship, the hollow sound of the waves slapping against the worn metal echoing the doubts you feel stirring inside you. And you rush headlong at this nameless assassin, into the black and white blur. Your body collides with the opposing force, pain jolts through her wrist as you block a kick, and you can already feel a bruise forming on your forearm where you guard yourself from the second blow. But then you're going for their head and they drop low, and you blink to find your head snapping back, clanging, and a dawning realization hits you harder than the fall. You don't have time to see stars because they're on you, and you're struggling but legs clamp around your waist and you feel a vice clamp onto your heart _this is too familiar_ you think - no, you _know_. You're pinned to the grate floor and you're hitting her and she's not hitting back. Frustration creeps its way into your limbs, and you're lashing out -

-_ and when you collide, it's like landing an impossible jump, the thrill just grips your entire body and you feel like you can conquer the world, with the wind at your back and the blood rushing in your ears. Your fingers are tangled in her hair and her hands are creeping up your shirt, and her palm presses against your heart, and you can feel her mouth curving when she feels your heart racing. This is better than running, you think deliriously, this is a kind of fall that'll cripple you but leave you more alive than ever, the kind of fall you don't mind taking, especially not with the way her lips and tongue are moving against yours whispering secrets and promises you'll never believe in any other circumstance -_

- she's twisting above you, trying to avoid your blows, and the violent movement is doing things to your body you don't want to be feeling - that you shouldn't be feeling in the middle of a fight. You can't get out from underneath her, and she's not letting you go - so you buck your hips and you think you hear something escape from beneath the mask as she lurches forward, and you've put up enough of a struggle that strands of those golden locks are falling out from under the armour -

- _and when you finally break apart for air, you close your eyes and press your forehead against hers and you're both breathing together, because this is a moment you won't be forgetting soon, a moment you don't want to forget -_

- your fingers curl behind the plate and you tear that stupid mask away and though you knew what you were going to see, it still takes your breath away, but not for the right reasons, it's all wrong - you didn't actually want to see her face staring back at you with something like might look like regret or the slight shimmer in her eyes that drips like acid onto lungs you're struggling on using to exhale, but the only thing that manages to slip past your lips is her name.

You just wish it didn't sound so much like a prayer.


End file.
